DNC 2012: Middle East

Then-Senator Obama pledged during the 2008 campaign to responsibly end the war in Iraq, saying it was imperative to “be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in” – and that is precisely what he has done. For over half a decade, our focus on Iraq meant we had taken our eye off of al-Qaeda, and it had cost us thousands of lives, a trillion dollars and severely strained our key alliances. When President Obama took office, there were over 140,000 American troops in harm’s way in Iraq. Today, all those forces are out of Iraq, and there are no American bases there either. The Iraqi people, in continued partnership with the United States, now have the opportunity to build a better future.